Whenever I read a book or see a movie, I enjoy making connections between it and something I have seen already. Personally, Life is a Dream reminds me of my favorite T.V show, The Prisoner. This show is about a secret agent (Number 6) who quits his job, and is soon captured by an unknown organization which is determined to find out why. Although his captors could be enemies of England, it is equally possible that they are loyal British agents who want to test him to ensure that he has not gone over to the other side. This situation is somewhat similar to that of Segismund, who was imprisoned by his father for fear of disloyalty to Poland. Segisimund’s character, similar to Number 6’s, is eventually tested when King Basil has him brought to the castle to learn if he would be a benevolent ruler. Both designs on the two characters also include the use of fake realities; many plans of the Prisoner’s captors involve changing his reality, whether it be by altering his memory, placing him in an artificial environment, or gaining his trust with their own agents. There are many moments during Number 6’s interrogations where he is unsure of what is truly real, just as Segismund is led to believe that his experience at the castle was a dream, in order to avoid having it influence his future actions.

Although there are similar circumstances in the two stories, what I find most interesting is that they at first seem to have opposite lessons. Number 6 changes little for the duration of the series. He is always plotting his next move, never ceasing to resist his interrogators. His stubbornness and personal strength make it clear that the main message of the show is to stand firm against oppression. However, at the end of Life is a Dream, Segismund realizes that he has become a monster, and decides to change for the better by sparing those who he vowed to kill. This change is exactly what his father desires, so that in way, he gives in to those who imprisoned him. However, I suppose one could argue that Segismund’s imprisonment is what turned him into a monster, so that by showing mercy to his enemies he is resisting his imprisonment once and for all. If one were to take this latter interpretation (which, the more I think about it, the more I do), then the two actually have similar morals after all.